The phone rang and I groaned. I looked in the clock, and frowned. Who would be calling at four? I searched for the phone blindly and when I finally got it, I was still half asleep.
"Hello?" I grumbled.
"I'm looking for Mr. Cullen?"
"Yes, that's me" I mumbled.
"Mr. Cullen, I'm sorry to wake you, but I need your full attention. It's serious"
"Okay" I said more awake.
"There was an accident…"
"WHAT?"
"There was a car accident. Your wife and daughter were in the car"
"Oh, my God" I said jumping from bed.
"Mr. Cullen, I need you to come to the hospital"
"Yes, of course. I'm going" I said grabbing my jeans.
"Forks Memorial"
"Forks?" I gasped, "What the hell?"
"The accident occurred in the outskirts of town…"
"Alright! I'm going. Is… Is she alright?" I said swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Ahn… Mrs.… Tanya?"
"No. Not Tanya! Is Ashley alright?"
"Ashley, the girl?" she sighed, "She's just out of surgery, Mr. Cullen. I prefer to tell the rest in person"
"Oh God" I groaned fighting the tears. "I'm going. Thank you"
I hung up, grabbing my wallet, cell, and keys and ran out of the house in Crocs, jeans, and PJ's shirt. I drove top speed to Forks, trying to see through the tears in my eyes. This couldn't be happening. Ashley should be safe, sleeping, at home, I would wake up, make her breakfast, get her ready to school, go to work, get her from school, help her with homework, make dinner, play with her, put her to sleep, and start all over again. The only consolation was that she was still alive. In the hospital but alive. When I got to the hospital, I ran inside, and the nurses in the reception looked at me with concern.
"My… My daughter… She was in an accident… Surgery…" I mumbled between gasps for air.
A nurse quickly rounded the counter, and held my arm.
"Sir, you need to calm down. Take deep breaths" she said. "Calm down, and I'll help you find your daughter"
I took deep shaky breaths, but it wasn't working. I bent down, my hands in my knees, my head spinning, tears falling, my stomach turning.
"Doctor… Swan? She called, she's my daughter's doctor" I mumbled.
"Okay. I'll get her" the nurse said.
I heard her calling someone, and she asked another nurse to get me some water. She extended me a plastic cup with water, I took it, and just stared at it.
"Mr. Cullen?" someone asked.
I looked up to the woman, a doctor. She had dark brown hair, pulled into a messy bun, big brown eyes, with purple marks under them, showing her tiredness.
"Edward?" she gasped. "Oh, God. I should have realized…"
"I'm sorry" I said shaking my head, "What?"
"Oh. Sorry. I'm Bella Swan. We went to high school together" she said shaking my hand.
"Oh" I mumbled, "Sorry, I just…"
"It's alright" she said.
"Ashley?"
"I'll take you to her room" she said nodding for me to follow her.
I thanked the nurses and followed her slowly, dragging myself.
"Where the fuck is Tanya?" I growled as we waited for the elevator.
"Your wife?" Bella asked shocked.
"My ex-wife. What the hell was she doing!"
I was furious. She took Ashley from my home, ran with her and almost killed her!
"Mr. Cullen… I… I'm sorry" Bella said softly, "Tanya died"
I stared at her in shock and exhaled slowly.
"Holy shit" I whispered.
"We tried everything, but her heart gave up"
"Okay" I said, "I'll get you the family information…"
"Okay? What?" she asked shocked, "What are you saying?"
"Oh. It's not that I'm not sorry for her. I am. It's just. God, I hated the woman. She was making my life hell, and my daughter's life too. She could have killed Ashley"
"Oh. I see" she mumbled and we got in the elevator.
"So, Ashley?"
"I won't lie, Edward" she sighed, "Is it okay to call you Edward?"
"Yeah, better"
"Alright" she took a deep breath, "She came with a lot of cuts, she wasn't using seatbelt, and she flew out through the windshield"
"Oh God"
"The impact with the ground was very strong" she sighed, "She has broken ribs, one punctured her lung. Her leg is broken too, in two places, we just found out in the surgery, when it started to swell. Internal bleeding in the abdomen, damage in the kidneys, liver, pancreas. And her intracranial pressure was too low…"
"What?" I whispered brokenly. Tears running down again. I knew what she meant. I knew too well. But in the moment my brain wouldn't process the information correctly.
"There wasn't enough blood being pumped to her brain. We had to open and…"
"Open?" I gasped.
She nodded weakly and the doors opened. She put a hand in my back, guiding me. We stopped in front of a room and she motioned me to go in. I got in and just stared. That wasn't my daughter. That couldn't be her. That couldn't be my beautiful Ashley. Not this girl with tubes from her chest, mouth… Not this girl with half her hair shaved, and a bandage in her head. Not this girl wrapped in gauze almost her whole body. This girl that wasn't smiling, wasn't laughing, wasn't looking at me with her green eyes, like Ashley did. My Ashley couldn't look so fragile, hurt, broken. My Ashley was full of life.
"Edward?" Bella asked.
I sniffed and walked to the bed, and sat in an armchair, that had a blanket over the arm. Bella walked to me, and pulled the blanket, folding it.
"Sorry. I was sleeping here" she said, "Will you want it?" she asked extending the blanket.
I shook my head, staring at the little girl. My little girl.
"What…? What will happen?" I asked in a whisper.
"We can't do anything for now, Edward. We have to wait. The neurologist that took care of her will be here soon, to check on her, and then we'll have more to tell you. But for now, there isn't anything to do. We put her in coma, it would be too much pain for her to be awake. It would be worse"
"How long?" I asked.
"Everything depends on her recovery"
"So, basically you don't know how long she'll have to be like this?"
"Edward, I know it's not you want to hear, but… There is a big chance she won't wake up. The damage in her brain… It took too long to fix the intracranial pressure problem, so she spent a lot of time without enough blood going to her brain"
"Brain death?" I gasped.
"It's a possibility"
I took Ashley's hand gently, and rested my head in the bed. I prayed. I wasn't religious, but I started praying.
After a couple hours, the sun was peering through the curtains, and I realized I should call people. I shakily got my cell, and dialed my parent's number.
"Hello?" mom answered.
"Mom, it's me, Edward" I sniffed.
"Edward?" she asked alarmed, "What's wrong?"
"I-I… Ashley is in the ICU and…"
"What?" she shouted.
"Tanya took her, and got in a car accident. I… Tanya died, and Ash… Mom, please, I need you" I said crying again.
"What hospital?" she asked and I heard dad alarmed asking what was going on.
"Forks Memorial"
"Forks?" she gasped, "Oh, god…"
"Please"
"We're going" she said.
I hung up, and wiped away the tears.
"Breakfast?"
I looked up and saw Bella sitting in the corner.
"You were here all the time?"
"Yeah" she shrugged.
"Sorry, I didn't even realize…"
"It's alright. I should have gone home, but I decided to stay and wait for the neurologist"
"Thank you"
"I'm going to get coffee. Want some?"
I shook my head, and she walked out. I ran the back of my fingers through Ashley's cheekbone carefully, and got back to praying. A few minutes later, Bella came back and extended me a cup of coffee.
"You need it" she said softly.
I nodded in thanks, and took it, sipping it slowly. She sat in the corner again, and ate a muffin with her coffee. I don't know how time passed so quickly, but the door opened, and I was hugged tightly. I turned my head to see my sister, with red eyes. I hugged her back, crying silently in her hair. Mom and dad came in, and stared at the scene with tears. My mom hugged me after Alice let me go, and dad went to talk to Bella, and I heard her informing him of everything. She even gave him the chart to read.
"She'll be alright" mom soothed me, but seemed she was soothing herself too.
There was a knock in the door, and a doctor looked at us.
"Ahn, this is Dr. Taylor. He's the neurologist" Bella said.
He nodded to us with a weak smile and walked to the other side of the bed. Bella joined him as they discussed the status in hushed tones.
"There isn't change" Dr. Taylor sighed after a few minutes.
"So…" I pressed.
"Her intracranial pressure is stabilized, but for now, it's all I can tell"
"Thank you" dad said. Dr. Taylor said a few words to Bella and left.
"You're her doctor too?" Alice asked.
"Yes. I took care of her in the ER, and took charge of her after surgery. Seeing you have doctors in your family, if you want to change, I perfectly understand…"
"No, it's alright. I can't treat family" dad said shaking his head, "It's too much…"
"I understand" Bella said with a weak smile.
"I remember you…" Alice mumbled.
"We went to high school" Bella said.
"Oh. Bella Swan! Of course" Alice said smiling weakly, "Sorry, too much in my head, I guess"
"Perfectly understandable"
"Son?" dad asked me.
I looked up at him, and he had a sad smile.
"Alice and I arranged to move Ash. To Seattle. Jasper can take care of her…"
"Is something wrong here?" I asked frowning.
"No, not at all. We just… In Seattle we have more resources to help her"
"But moving her… wouldn't be too much?" I asked him and Bella.
"I would like to wait a few days, if we'll move her. Confirm if she's stable enough for a trip…"
"We would get a helicopter to Seattle Grace" Alice said.
"Oh. A shot trip then. I thought you meant in an ambulance" Bella mumbled and sighed, "Being a short trip, I think it would be alright. But I still would like to wait until tonight, just to be safe"
"Yes, of course" dad said, "If she's stable until tonight, then we move her"
Bella nodded, checked her vitals and wrote something in the chart. She walked to me, squeezed my shoulder in comfort and nodded.
"Anything you need, just ask someone to call me. I'll be in the floor…"
"Aren't you going home?" I asked frowning.
"I'll stay to check on a few patients" she said and glanced at Ashley.
"Thank you" I whispered.
She nodded again, smiled weakly at my family and walked out of the room.
"She seems a nice girl" mom commented.
"She stayed all night. Before I got here, she was sleeping here, and she stayed the rest of the night. She left just to get coffee, and now" I mumbled.
"She cares. She's a good doctor" Alice concluded.
"I want her in Seattle" I mumbled and they arched eyebrows. "She treated Ashley. She knows everything that happened from the beginning. We need her"
"Alright" dad agreed, "It's a good idea. I'll talk to her"
"Thank you"
"I'll call Jasper, Emm and Rose" Alice said.
She and dad went out, and mom came to my side, pulling me to her, and I buried my head in her shoulder and cried. I was scared like a child. My world, Ashley, was hurt, in danger, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.